Businesses want to see Budget decisions that will help NZ get on top of inflation and become more productive, BusinessNZ's Kirk Hope says. “Businesses are facing inflationary cost pressures and want to see signals about reducing unnecessary government spending and allowing the Reserve Bank to focus solely on inflation. We’re interested in Budget plans to assist increased productivity by investing in needed improvements in infrastructure, skills-related education, and immigration processes focused on gaining needed skills from overseas.”

NZ key sectors - manufacturing and services - are experiencing the effects of inflation, according to BusinessNZ’s monthly surveys. The manufacturing sector experienced a decline in activity, dipping below the point of expansion in the latest BNZ–BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). Meanwhile the services sector showed a slower rate of expansion in the latest BNZ–BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). Respondents to the PMI and PSI surveys cited a cooling economy, fall in demand, and the effects of ongoing price increases impacting on their business.

A cost blowout at Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) because of a new collective employment agreement between FENZ and the firefighters union should not be paid for by fire insurance holders, says BusinessNZ. Funding for FENZ’s overall operations should also be revamped: 97% of FENZ is paid for by fire insurance holders and it’s not fair that those who purchase insurance should pay for everyone else’s emergency services - fire and emergency services should instead be largely funded out of general taxation, BusinessNZ says.

A new Govt Bill would cut the allocation of emission units to emission-intensive business - which the BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) says would put their decarbonisation plans at risk. BEC says cutting emissions while ensuring emission-intensive firms remain in NZ is a balancing act: if firms face the full cost of carbon too fast, they could be priced out of NZ. BEC says only 17% of global emissions are covered by a carbon price, and NZ must remain competitive by ensuring allocation protection, as the loss of key businesses would harm NZ’s economic resilience and also increase global emissions.

ExportNZ contributed to a new report by the India NZ Business Council that says NZ should forge a better trading relationship with India, not just look for a market for NZ products. Some NZ ag & hort exporters have great relationship practices - e.g. investing in technical cooperation programmes - and more firms could do likewise, ExportNZ says. The NZ Govt could help too, by improving its selective stance on immigration and travel visas. A more trusting trade relationship between NZ and India is required, ExportNZ says.

BusinessNZ has succeeded in getting payment transparency legislation more fit for purpose with changes to the Business Payment Practices Bill. The Bill would make large firms and government departments publicly disclose their payment practices, to help small businesses get paid on time. Following BusinessNZ’s submission outlining concerns about the regulatory burden it would impose, the proposed regime has been revised to make reporting no more frequently than 6-monthly, and now allows consolidated group reporting instead of individual reporting by large subsidiaries.